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The Last of Us
|image = |caption = North American boxart |developer = Naughty Dog |publisher = Sony Computer Entertainment |distributor = |designer = Bruce Straley (game director) Neil Druckmann (creative director) Ricky Cambier Jacob Minkoff Benson Russell |writer = Neil Druckmann |artist = |composer = Gustavo Santaolalla |license = |series = |engine = In-house engine Havok (physics) |aspect ratio = |resolution = |version = |platforms = PlayStation 3 |released = June 14, 2013(Worldwide) June 20, 2013(Japan) |latest release version = |latest release date = |latest preview version = |latest preview date = |genre = Survival-Horror Action-Adventure |modes = Single-player multiplayer |ratings =ESRB: M PEGI: 18 ACB: R18+ |media = Blu-ray Disc Digital Download (via PSN) |requirements = |input = Gamepad |cabinet = |arcade system = |cpu = |sound = |display = }} The Last of Us is a third-person survival/action video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was originally planned for a release date of May 7th, 2013, but was delayed. It was officially released June 14th, 2013 worldwide and June 20th, 2013 for Japan exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The plot centers around a modern fungal plague nearly leading mankind to extinction. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons, and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their westward journey across what remains of the United States to find a possible cure for the infection.The Last of Us (Sunday November 11 2011) The game will be "more realistic and cinematic" than other games Naughty Dog has developed.@Naughty_Dog - Twitter Plot Backstory and Setting The Last of Us takes place in the year 2033, twenty years after a fungal-based, brain-altering pandemic has spread and infected nearly 60% of the world's population.Medical Pamphlet Since the outbreak, the world has gone into a state of panic and frenzy as officials try to fix and keep the situation under control; when the World Health Organization's attempts to procure a vaccine fail, cities are placed under martial law one by one, and residents are assigned to designated quarantine zones that are supposed to separate them from the infected and keep them safe. Sometime within the twenty years leading up to the main events of the game, an anti-government militia group calling themselves the Fireflies is established, and their main goal is to find and produce a vaccine for the Cordyceps Brain Infection, while staging attacks on quarantine zones as an act of defiance, as they view the military as tyrants. Characters * Joel (Troy Baker) - The main character and protagonist of the game. Joel is a brutal survivor of the Cordyceps Brain Infection; taking residence in the Boston Quarantine Zone. He operates as a black market smuggler, dealing in contraband, taking numerous de-humanizing jobs over the years to survive in this new post-pandemic world. Unfortunately for him, he is thrust into the middle of the nightmare that the world has become, when he is asked by a dying friend to look after Ellie. Throughout the game, Joel slowly develops an unbreakable bond with Ellie and a desire to once again open up his emotions that he had for so many years suppressed. * Ellie (Ashley Johnson) - The secondary main character of the game. Ellie is a brave fourteen-year-old girl that has grown up in this harsh world and it is all she has ever known. Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps Brain Infection and because of this, the Fireflies, an anti-government organization, seek to reverse engineer a cure through her. She and Joel travel across the post-pandemic United States to reach the Fireflies. She helps the player through the game in many ways, lending a hand in combat and assisting through areas of the game that would otherwise be inaccessible. She frequently expresses curiosity about the remnants of a world that no longer exists. * Tess (Annie Wersching) - Tess is Joel's 'partner-in-crime'. They operate in the black market of a city under martial law and have earned a reputation for their ruthless behavior. She and Joel have a trust that runs deep and the two seem to have a strong sexual tension in moments of the game. Tess goes with Joel to drop off Ellie to the Fireflies at the capitol building in Boston, in exchange for getting back the guns that were stolen from them. Against all odds, the trio make it to the capitol building only to find that the Fireflies are dead, and Tess has been bitten by an Infected. She buys Joel and Ellie some time to flee while she holds off some soldiers, though makes him promise her that he will get Ellie to his brother's before they escape. * Bill (W. Earl Brown) - A paranoid survivor who appears early in the game and helps Joel and Ellie. Bill takes refuge in a town that he has completely booby trapped. He seems to be a bit eccentric, perhaps derranged, but offers to aid Joel and Ellie in finding a car. He regularly gets into arguments with Ellie and at one point even threatens to attack her. Once he provides the player a car, he is not seen again. * Marlene (Merle Dandridge) - The leader of the Fireflies, Ellie's surrogate parent and one of the main antagonists of The Last of Us. She blackmails Tess and Joel into taking Ellie to the Fireflies at the Capitol building in Boston. To Marlene, every unethical action she takes can be justified because of her pursuit to save humanity from the infection. She is absent for most of the game and only reappears at the end, where she is the final antagonist. * Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce) - Joel's brother and a former Firefly. The game starts with Tommy helping Joel and Sarah maneuver through the chaotic crowds of both civilians and infected. Tommy and Joel reunite later within the game and he reluctantly agrees to help his brother, establishing one of Joel and Ellie's reasons for coming to the University of Eastern Colorado. He is engaged to Maria. * David (Nolan North) - A middle-age survivor and leader of a Cannibals group who appears later in the game and asks for help from Ellie. David is a very manipulative person, seeking to win people over with his superficial mild-mannered appearance, and attempting to convince Ellie to join him. He finally reveals his true nature to Ellie and even attempts to kill her outright, sending a bunch of his men to chase after her several times throughout the winter section of the game. To David, everything that has happened was for a reason; he believes faith brought him and Ellie to together, and that their encounter was meant to be. He has a very profound effect on Ellie throughout the rest of the game. * Henry (Brandon Scott) - An adapt survivor, who, with his brother Sam, help the player during the semi-middle part of the game. He and Joel go through some rough patches, but in the end begin to warm up to each other. However, he commits suicide after having to kill his infected brother. * Sam (Nadji Jeter) - Henry's younger brother and fellow companion. Upon meeting, he and Ellie get along almost instantly and continue their easygoing relationship throughout the parts where he is in the game. She is the last person Sam talks to before he turns into an infected. He is killed by his brother, who soon afterwards commits suicide because of his guilty conscious. * Sarah (Hana Hayes) - Joel's daughter. She is killed at the start of the game when a soldier opens fire on both her and Joel. Plot summary Prologue The year is 2013. The game begins by introducing Joel, a single father living in Austin, Texas, with his 12-year-old daughter Sarah. On the night of his birthday, a sudden outbreak of a cordyceps-like infection originating of an unknown cause rapidly spreads throughout the United States. As Joel and Sarah meet up with his brother Tommy and attempt to flee the area, a soldier is ordered to shoot at them; Joel survives the attack unscathed, but Sarah is hit and dies in Joel's arms. Summer Following the prologue, the game cuts to the Summer of 2033. Joel is now a smuggler in a bleak, post-apocalyptic society, and he lives in the Boston quarantine zone with his partner and friend Tess, where they frequently sneak out of the city illegally to sell and trade with other survivors. The two set out to look for a local arms dealer named Robert after he purportedly sent his men to kill Tess. When they find him, he confesses that he had sold the guns because he owed them to the Fireflies. Angered by this revelation, Tess shoots Robert twice in the head, and the two decide to look for the Fireflies and explain what happened to retrieve their merchandise. Shortly after, they encounter Marlene, the head of the Fireflies, and she tells them that she will part with the guns and double the payment if they agree to smuggle something for her. At the safehouse Marlene takes them to, it is revealed that they will be smuggling a young girl by the name of Ellie. Tess and Joel split up, with Tess following Marlene back to her camp to confirm that she has their payment, and Joel escorting Ellie back to their own safehouse to wait for Tess. When Tess returns, the three of them set off for the drop-off point that other Fireflies will be waiting at to receive Ellie. Before they get far, however, two patrolling military officers ambushed them and they are subject to a scan for CBI. Before they get a look at Ellie's scan reading, she stabs the officer with her switchblade, and Tess swiftly shoots the officers. It is then revealed that Ellie is infected, but Ellie claims that her bite is three weeks old, which is a unique condition as most people turn within two days of being exposed to the fungus. Although still skeptical, the three escape together as backup arrives, and flee underground as soldiers pursue them. Once the soldiers lose track of them, Ellie explains that Marlene believes what happened to her may be the key to finding a cure. Joel is reluctant, but Tess believes there may be some truth to what she is saying, and urges him to consider finishing the drop off. The three fight their way through numerous infected to the Capitol building, only to find that the Fireflies that were supposed to meet them are already dead. Joel declares they tried and failed, and proposes they return home, but Tess reveals that she had been bitten by a Runner on the way to the building, and begs Joel to bring Ellie to Tommy, as he used to be part of Marlene's group and may have an idea of how to bring her to the Fireflies. Tess stays behind alone to distract the approaching soldiers, as Joel flees with Ellie. Joel's initial idea is to visit an acquaintance that owes him a favor and procure a working car from him, which would make their trip to Tommy's a lot easier and quicker. Their ride is cut short, however, as they are ambushed and attacked by a group of hunters in Pittsburgh, forcing them to abandon the pick-up truck and escape on foot. Within the hunter's city, they meet a pair of brothers named Sam and Henry who are also trying to escape, and they agree to work together. As they leave the city, the hunters continue to pursue them on the Humvee, chasing Joel and Ellie to the edge of a broken bridge. They jump off to escape, but Joel is knocked unconscious. He then wakes up on the shore of a beach, where they are reunited with Sam and Henry. Soon, they find an entrance to a sewer, and navigate through it to reach a suburban neighborhood. Up in the suburbs, they are attacked by another group of hunters; Joel manages to take them out, but the noise from the firearms attract hordes of infected, causing the group to escape and flee from the suburbs. Once they reached the radio tower, they spend the night indoors and wake up well rested. Ellie decides to find Sam for breakfast, only to discover that he had been bitten in their latest encounter with the infected, and had turned overnight. He attacks Ellie, and in the struggle and confusion that followed, Henry shoots Sam. Henry, in a state of anger and grief, first places blame on Joel and points his gun at him, but changes his mind and shoots himself instead. Fall Joel and Ellie continue their journey to find Tommy. As with the death of Tess, Ellie is not allowed to bring up Henry or Sam in front of Joel. The two discuss Joel's relationship with his brother, which he admits is not ideal, and they soon reach a closed gate guarded by several armed people. As the woman interrogates Joel and Ellie, Tommy recognizes Joel and open the gates for him. He introduces the woman as his wife Maria, and they all head inside. Inside, Maria brings Ellie to get some food, and Tommy gives Joel a tour of the power plant. Once they are alone, Joel tells Tommy about Ellie and her unique condition. He refuses to help, and the two begin to quarrel but their argument is cut short as a pack of bandits show up and attack their settlement. Joel and Tommy fight their way back to Maria and Ellie, and upon seeing his brother's apparent love for Ellie, Tommy makes up his mind and decides to help deliver Ellie to the Fireflies. He discusses this with Maria, who is evidently distraught and against their plan. Ellie listens in on the conversation, and picks up that Joel is going to be handing her off to Tommy. Upset by this, she steals a horse and takes off into the woods alone. When Joel and Tommy learn of Ellie's disappearance, they each grab a horse and look for her together. After handling a few more bandits, they finally find her in an abandoned ranch house, where Ellie accuses Joel of planning to leave her with Tommy, and that he wanted to get rid of her the whole time. He argues that she would be safer with Tommy, and Ellie brings up Sarah, which greatly upsets Joel and prompts him to say "you're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad". Before Ellie can respond, Tommy bursts into the room and tells them that bandits are in the house with them. They fight their way out of the ranch, and start to head back to the dam on horseback. Joel thinks back to his argument with Ellie, and in a change of heart, he announces that he has decided to continue the journey with Ellie himself. He tells her to return the horse she took, and the two ride off together as they part ways with Tommy. Together, they head for the University of Eastern Colorado, as Tommy told them the Fireflies' lab is located there. As they search the school buildings for the lab, it becomes increasingly obvious that the school had been abandoned for quite some time. When they finally find a recorder that tells them of the current whereabouts of the Fireflies, they are spotted by another group of survivors that start to shoot at them. As Joel and Ellie try to escape from the school grounds, Joel is attacked and pushed over a railing by a man. They fall, and Joel is impaled onto a metal beam on the ground below. Ellie shoots Joel's attacker, and helps him escape to their horse outside. She helps him get on, and they ride away from the school together. A while later, Ellie looks back and declares that they're safe for now, but Joel is still severely wounded and bleeding, and unable to hold on any longer, he falls off the horse, leaving Ellie panicked and unsure of what to do. Winter Ellie is out hunting in the snow by herself. She shoots a rabbit with an arrow before noticing a stag in the distance; she leaves the rabbit with Callus and follows it quietly. She manages to shoot it twice, following the blood trail to an abandoned shack, where the stag finally succumbed to its wounds. She is then approached by David and James, who offer to trade supplies with her in exchange for the deer. Ellie frantically asks them for some antibiotics, and James leaves to retrieve it as David stays with her. David attempts to befriend Ellie, but she is skeptical of his seemingly good nature, and refuses to reveal any information about herself. Before long, they hear infected approaching, they work together to fight them off. When they are safe from the infected again, David reveals that the group of men who attacked her and Joel at the university were part of his group. Sensing that she is in trouble, Ellie reaches for her weapon, but finds that she is outnumbered, as James had returned with the antibiotics. David tells James to let her go, and Ellie flees with Callus back to the garage of an abandoned house, where a very ill and still wounded Joel is resting. She gives him the antibiotics, and falls asleep next to him. When she wakes up, she discovers that David's group had tracked her down, and she has no choice but to leave Joel behind as she attempts to draw them away from him. She takes off on Callus, who is shot shortly after the men give chase. Ellie escapes on foot and avoids them for the most part, but David catches up to her himself, and knocks her unconscious. Ellie wakes up in a cage, and the first thing she sees is James butchering a human body. David approaches her and once again attempts to get on her good side, claiming that he can convince the others to keep her alive. Ellie still does not trust him, and breaks his finger in an attempt to grab the keys to the cage from him. Finally out of patience and temper, David leaves the room and darkly threatens to have her cut up into "little pieces". Meanwhile, Joel finally comes to in the garage, and notices Ellie is missing. He frantically looks for her, killing the rest of the men that had tracked Ellie back to the house. He captures two and tortures them until they give up the location of the resort David had taken Ellie, then kills both of them and set out looking for her. Back at the resort, James roughly wakes Ellie up, and hauls her up to the butcher table with David. Ellie bites David in the struggle, and in an attempt to throw them off guard, Ellie reveals that she is infected. As James and David stands shocked, she grabs the butcher knife from them and buries it into James' neck, narrowly escaping as David shoots at her. As she navigates around the resort and tries to find a way out, she soon ends up in a restaurant, where David has her trapped. The restaurant catches on fire as Ellie sneaks around the restaurant, trying to stab David with her switchblade before he catches her. They fight for a while, but are both knocked unconscious in the struggle. Outside, Joel has finally arrived at the resort, and is scouring the area looking for her. He soon notices a the burning restaurant and attempts to head inside to investigate. Inside the restaurant, Ellie regains consciousness first, and spots David's machete under a bench. As she attempts to retrieve it, David wakes up also. He kicks her several times and pins her to the ground, not knowing the machete is still within her reach. As he attacks her, Ellie grabs a hold of the machete and violently hacks David to death with it. Joel finally makes his way into the building and takes the weapon from her, then holds Ellie and comforts her as she sobs. Spring Joel spots the Saint Mary's Hospital mentioned in the Firefly's recorder and points it out to Ellie, who seems distracted and a little distant. They make their way through a highway of abandoned cars and soon reach a decaying train station. Joel boosts Ellie up onto a platform; she drops a ladder for him, but sees something in the distance and hurries off without waiting for him. Confused and worried, Joel follows suit as quickly as he could, and soon discovers that a group of giraffes had roamed into the deserted city, one of which was grazing on the vegetation that had grown around the decaying building they were standing in. The two take turns petting the giraffe, then lean over the balcony to marvel at the sight of the herd. As they turn to exit the building, Joel realizes they have the option to simply leave all they set out to do behind, and return to Tommy's dam to live out a simpler life. He brings this up to her, but Ellie, determined to reach the hospital and see their mission through, insists that everything they've done up to this point "can't be for nothing," and sets off ahead of him with determination. Soon, they reach an area set up with medical tents. Joel recalls that shortly after the outbreak, he ended up in a similar location and witnessed broken families everywhere. For the first time, Ellie brings up Sarah without angering Joel, and she offers him a photo of him and his daughter that she secretly took while visiting Tommy's dam. Joel finally accepts that no matter how hard you try, you can't escape your past, and thanks Ellie for it. They make their way into an underground tunnel, much of which has been flooded and infested with the infected. They help each other through the debris, but soon reach an area with a loose platform. Joel falls off and into a broken down bus, where he becomes trapped. As Ellie breaks through a bus window to try and get him out, she is knocked into the water. Joel escapes through the window and drags Ellie out of the water, who is now unconscious. As he frantically tries to resuscitate her, two Firefly patrolmen approach them and train their weapons on Joel, ordering him too put his hands in the air. He ignores them in his state of panic, and is knocked out by one of the Fireflies. Joel wakes up in a hospital bed with Marlene by his side. She welcomes him to the Fireflies, and reassures him that they have rescued Ellie as well. When he asks to see her, she reveals that they are already preparing her for surgery - a surgical process to remove the mutated infection within her, and reverse engineer a vaccine from it. The truth dawns on Joel as he points out that the infection grows all over the brain, meaning Ellie will have to die in order for them to successfully extract it. He demands that they find someone else for it, but the Firefly member in the room knocks him to the ground. Marlene justifies that there is no other option for them, and orders Ethan to march him out. As he is escorted out at gunpoint, Joel spots his backpack and belongings on a counter, and attacks Ethan. He learns that Ellie is located in an operating room on the top floor before killing him, and quickly retrieves his things to save her. The gunshots alert and attract the attention of other Fireflies, and they soon discover Joel has escaped and is on the loose. Joel fights his way to the operating room alone, where a surgeon and his two assistants stand around a heavily drugged Ellie. They back away as Joel approaches, but the doctor attempts to stop him from taking Ellie and is killed as a result. Joel removes the still unconscious Ellie from the operating table, and carries her out of the room as Fireflies close in on him. He manages to reach the elevator just in time, and heads down to the underground parking lot, where he is stopped by Marlene. With her gun trained on Joel, she makes a final attempt to change his mind, reasoning that Ellie would rather die for the vaccine than escape with him. As she lowers her guard and tells him that he can still do the right thing, the scene cuts away to Joel driving away, seemingly alone. Joel drives in silence for some time, then a bit of stirring can be heard in the background as Ellie is seen waking up in the backseat. She asks him what happened, and Joel lies to her as he recalls the events that transpired in the parking lot; he had shot Marlene to prevent her from coming after Ellie, but tells her that the Fireflies have already stopped looking for a cure, and that she is not the only human immune to CBI. Ellie turns away silently in disappointment, and Joel apologizes as he continues to drive back to Tommy's dam. Epilogue Back in Jackson County, Joel is looking under the hood of their vehicle, and a still dejected Ellie lightly traces her infected bite wound as she thinks about their trip to the Fireflies' lab. Joel declares that they will be walking from this point, and the two continue to make their way to Tommy's settlement on foot. On the way there, Ellie stops Joel and confronts him about his version of events that transpired earlier. She expresses her survivor's guilt, mentioning all of their friends who have died and succumbed to CBI, and wonders if she could have done more to end the pandemic. She asks Joel to swear to her that everything he told her about the Fireflies is true, and he does. With a look of doubt on her face, she accepts his answer. Chapters * Chapter 1: Hometown * Chapter 2: The Quarantine Zone * Chapter 3: The Outskirts * Chapter 4: Bill's Town * Chapter 5: Pittsburgh * Chapter 6: The Suburbs * Chapter 7: Tommy's Dam * Chapter 8: The University * Chapter 9: Lakeside Resort * Chapter 10: Bus Depot * Chapter 11: The Firefly Lab * Chapter 12: Jackson Gameplay The gameplay will be "less linear" than the Uncharted series, even though it will not be open-world. Instead "the exploration will be more important and will have enough weight in the gameplay."First look at The Last of Us to PlayStation 3 As of February 4, it has been revealed that some events pertaining to The Last of Us will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Gameplur: Magazine Scan #10Exclusive First In-Game Screenshots Of The Last Of Us Controls Combat The combat in the The Last of Us will be very realistic and strategic. Resources are limited and the lethality of weapons is very high, as in reality. You can't only hide behind cover and wait for your health to regenerate like in Uncharted; rather, "health packs" must be applied to repair damage to Joel or Ellie's health. There will be both guns and melee combat, as well as breakable weapons such as planks and bricks. Part of the gameplay will revolve around scavenging for new items. Artificial Intelligence Naughty Dog has also stressed the amount of realism and believability that they seek to heavily attribute to the game's AI, in which they will show emotion and vulnerability by getting angry when a friend dies, warning each other of danger, and becoming frightened when they've lost the upper hand; this structured AI system is a dynamic, adaptable blueprint also known/referred to as the "Balance of Power", in which the overall scenario and the advantages that come with it changes depending on which opposing group can prove to be the stronger, better-equipped one.Magazine Scan #3 Throughout their journey, Joel and Ellie will fight both different factions of humans/survivors and infected enemies, as well as meet allies that don't have as much incentive to harm them. You can also utilize stealth to get around unaware enemies, distract them with various AI partners you meet on your journey, and use any number of tactics to fight your enemies, depending on important parameters like how well-equipped your foes are, what kind of weapons they have on them, and the like.Magazine Scan #5 Items Items are in The Last of Us. Items are objects that Joel and Ellie can utilize to further their survival, combat enemies, replenish their health, and store things in. The groups that items fall under include ammunition, binding, alcohol, blade, sugar and explosives. All of these item groups contain items that Joel and Ellie can scavenge for, like revolver ammunition, or craft out of simple items, as in the case of the Molotov Cocktail. Multiplayer The Last of Us includes an online portion. Straley said in GameInformer's March issue, "We're going to have some sort of online component... we definitely know it's going to be awesome."Magazine Scan #9 Development According to USA Today, back in 2008, Neil Druckmann had an idea for a graphic novel about a father-daughter zombie tale. He and game director Bruce Straley saw the ophiocordyceps unilateralis segment from the BBC/Discovery channel series Planet Earth, in which then turned into a major source of inspiration for The Last of Us's primary plot. Both were working on Uncharted 2 at the time. After the development of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves finished, some team members of Naughty Dog moved on to The Last of Us while the others moved on to start on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. The game has been in development for over two years. Inspirations Inspirations for The Last of Us include: *BBC's Planet Earth *The Coen Brothers film adaptations of Cormac McCarthy and Charles Portis' novels: **''No Country For Old Men'' **''True Grit'' *The Road (Novel and film) *''Earth Abides'' (1949), George R. Stewart (a classic post-apocalyptic novel whose main character, Isherwood "Ish" Williams, establishes a community of pandemic survivors) *Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead *''Children Of Men'' (Film) *''28 Days Later'' *''The Day of the Triffids'' (Film) *''I Am Legend'' (Novel and 2007 Film) *''City of Thieves'' *''Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' (specifically "Chapter 17: Mountaineering" and the levels featuring Tenzin) *''The Stand'' (Novel) Characters Joel and Ellie were originally going to be father and daughter, but Neil stated the reason this was scrapped was because then “it wouldn’t have anywhere to go.” He goes on to state that at that point “he’d be willing to anything for his daughter, because that is what any dad would do for his daughter.” Making Ellie introduced to Joel would give both Joel and the player the same relationship to Ellie and thus enable it to expand from there. Because the developers were emphasizing personality and characters, there was also the idea that Ellie should be male. Grounded: Making The Last of Us Announcement Before the Video Game Awards, Sony showed two teaser trailers: one from the BBC/Discovery Documentary Planet Earth, displaying an ant dying from a deadly fungus, and the other one showing past events of protests, riots, and other glimpses of chaos while a man narrates, talking about how all of the mundane things in life he took for granted were now gone, suggesting that the game was going to be post-apocalyptic. VGA 2011 The game was officially unveiled at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards with a new, in-engine trailer. The opening scene is of lush greenery displayed outside of an open window as its curtains catch a light breeze entering a room. The scene then pans out further into the room, where a body is lying lifelessly on a bed, bleeding out onto the floor. A teenage girl can be seen running across the horrific display, rummaging through the rest of the ruined building for supplies. After hearing a conflict upstairs, she investigates to find two men fighting one another. After one of the men is killed, the other is found to be the girl's associate, Joel. He then tells her to investigate the body for anything of use, to which she then finds some ammunition. Before she can finish collecting them though, several human-like creatures invade the building and the girl's name is discovered to be Ellie, as her middle-aged acquaintance calls her name and takes her by the hand as they hide behind a wall for cover; however, one of them can be heard coming close to their position, and, after drawing his pistol, the man is attacked by one of them at arm's length. While he is struggling with the creature, Ellie stabs it in the back repeatedly with her switchblade, giving the man the opportunity to shoot the creature in the head, killing it. The two then hastily leave the building, where it is shown that the entire city is in a dilapidated state, with entire city blocks covered in vegetation. PlayStation Blog Shortly after the unveiling, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells posted this on the PlayStation Blog: The announcement also confirmed that the new project is being headed by studio game director Bruce Straley and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves director Neil Druckmann. Marketing Media The following media has been revealed during the time after announcement and before release: *'Truck Ambush Cutscene Preview' - Joel and Ellie drive around Pittsburgh and encounter a trap that results in the two being ambushed by several vicious survivors. *'E3 Gameplay Demo' - A seven minute demo of the first gameplay footage of The Last of Us. Joel and Ellie enter a hotel en route to a bridge on the outskirts of Pittsburgh only to encounter ruthless hunters. *'Bill's Safe House Cinematic' - Shown at Comic-Con 2012, this cutscene preview involves Joel and Ellie fleeing to the safe house of a somewhat friendly survivor named Bill. *'PAX Gameplay Demo' - An extended version of the previous, publicly shown demo at E3, about 16 full minutes in length and revealing several new features and character interaction that weren't present in the original. *'VGA 2012 Story Teaser Trailer' - A 30 second long teaser in which Joel brandishes a bloody machete to a hunter chained to a radiator saying "We don't have to do this, you know that right?" *'VGA 2012 Story Trailer' - A trailer featuring various dialogues between many different characters that further explain the game's storyline. It was shown at VGA 2012, one year after the announcement trailer's first showing. *'TV Spot #1 - The Walking Dead Spot' - A 30 second long TV spot, shown during commercial break of The Walking Dead season 3 finale episode. *'Extended Red Band Trailer' - A longer Red Band version of the first TV spot. This trailer featured a few new cutscene snippets - most notably one in which Ellie has a short conversation with a currently unnamed boy her age. *'Multiplayer Reveal' - A trailer featuring the first official gameplay of The Last of Us’s multiplayer mode. The Last of Us original soundtrack The Last of Us Original Soundtrack was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and was released on June 11, 2013. It features editing montages of a portion of the music heard in-game. Other Retail Editions Downloadable Content The Sights and Sounds Pack which is included in all special editions, and pre-ordered standard editions includes: * Official Game Soundtrack * PS3 Dynamic Theme * PSN Avatars: Winter Joel and Ellie The Survival Pack Which is included in all special editions except for the Survival Edition, and standard editions pre-ordered from Gamestop includes: * Multiplayer Bonuses: ** Bonus XP ** Melee Booster ** In Game Currency ** Customizable Character Items * Bonus Joel and Ellie skins available once a play-through of the single-player is completed A season pass has been released to give buyers access to future downloadable content (1 single-player and 2 multiplayer packs) at a discounted price. Purchasing the season pass also gives early access to single-player upgrades: * Increased crafting speed * Faster healing * Increased 9mm reload speed * Increased Hunting Rifle clip capacity A 90 minute making of Documentary called Grounded is also included. Release The game was originally slated for a May 7, 2013 release date, but was pushed back to June 14, 2013, Naughty Dog issued this statement: Reception The Last of Us has received a largely positive response since its initial reveal at the 2011 VGA's and is considered to be one of 2013's most anticipated games. During the E3 2012 showing, The Last of Us received multiple accolades from numerous critics. The Game Critics Awards gave the game five awards: Best in Show, Best Original Game, Best Console Game, and Best Action/Adventure Game, and a Special Commendation for Sound. Advance reviews of The Last of Us lauded the game with high praise and critical acclaim. The game holds a 95 on Metacritic based on over 63 reviews from critics.Metacritic.com - The Last of Us (2013) Colin Moriarty of IGN.com gave the game a 10/10 "Masterpiece" rating, saying "Naughty Dog has crafted a game that impresses in virtually every way. The Last of Us is a true feat." Oli Welsh of Eurogamer gave the game a 10/10 rating, saying "[The Last of Us] has heart and grit, and it hangs together beautifully." Matt Helgeson of Game Informer magazine gave the game a 9.5/10 rating, stating "you won't forget it." The staff of Edge Magazine gave the game a 10/10 rating, calling it "the most riveting, emotionally resonant story-driven epic of this console generation." Tom Hoggins of Telegraph gave the game a 5/5 rating, stating simply "The Last of Us is a triumph." In contrast, while equally positive, Polygon.com’s Philip Kollar was more critical of the game’s mechanics, citing that the game tended to turn to the tried-and-true shooting mechanics and forced players enemy encounters that weren’t supported by the game’s reserved gameplay and emphasis on limited resources. He also notes that collision problems with the A.I companions break immersion of the game’s environment alongside the questionable character motivations of the protagonist, Joel. Similarly, Gamespot.com’s Tom Mc Shea notes that A.I. flubs concerning the nature of the enemies failing to notice loud noises or companions, dead bodies standing out in the open during stealth segments broke the immersion alongside loading checkpoints that ended confrontations. Both, however, praised the multiplayer’s use of the game’s thematics, violence and refined gameplay mechanics. Fan uproar towards the Polygon.com review was followed by a response by Neil Druckmann.Naughty Dog Comments On Polygon’s TLOU Review, PS4 And More Trivia * This game was originally a new Jak and Daxter game, but it was canceled and formed into TLOU. * The game was first teased on November 29, 2011 with a billboard in Times Square, mentioning "a PS3 exclusive you won't believe".VGAs to premiere 'a PS3 exclusive you won't believe' * Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception has an in-game reference to the aforementioned trailer during the opening chapter in the Pelican Inn with the newspaper headline "Scientists are still struggling to understand deadly fungus". * An interview with Eurogamer revealed that the game was supposed to be announced at E3 2011, but Naughty Dog had decided to reveal it at VGA 2011 instead * Sony registered the domain for The Last of Us 2 and 3'', hinting the possibility of sequels.Sony Registers The Last of Us 2 & 3 Domains Gallery Official stills 10600T1 promo01 04.jpg Cov 227 l.jpg|March cover of Game Informer Joel-hit-with-plank.jpg|In-game screenshot Joel-and-Ellie-in-well-lit-street.jpg|In-game screenshot 2 cartons for $15.99!.jpg Ellie lifting wreckage.jpg Ellie pointing at Something.jpg Joel and Ellie getting Kidnapped.jpg Joel Rescusing Ellie.jpg Joel and Ellie Surveying Car.jpg Joel and Ellie Taking Cover.jpg Car Graveyard.jpg Joel Brutally punching human enemy.jpg Ellie Sneak Attack.jpg Joel finishing off Survivor.jpg Tloudeadbodies.png Tlouellielooking.png Tloujoelandellie.png Tloucoffeeshop.png Tloujoelfacehit.png Tloulobby.png Tlouwrestling.png Tlouoverlook.png Tlourooftoptess.png 8451038133 0f0d7aafe5 b.jpg 8451037903 28a47ee6a6 b.jpg 8451038631 c1df8cb480 o.png 8451038325 037919e513 b.jpg Thebeautifulcity.png Official artwork 426673 346061325483800 992771472 n.jpg|''Last of Us poster (Art by Alexander Iaccarino) Naughty Dog New Year.png|A Naughty Dog New Year with the Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us characters Naughty Dog Christmas 2013.png|A Holiday celebration with characters from The Last of Us and Uncharted A Last Of Us Valentines.png|A The Last Of Us Valentine's Day Card Concept art Boston Quarantine zone.jpg|Concept art of a quarantine zone in Boston, Massachusetts The-Last-Of-Us-concept-art-548x400.jpg|Artwork of Joel and Ellie laughing by a fire. 2011 12 10 thelastofus concept 04-610x363.jpg 2011 12 10 thelastofus concept 03-610x318.jpg 2011 12 10 thelastofus concept 02-610x342.jpg 2011 12 10 thelastofus concept 01-610x335.jpg The-last-of-us-vga-7.png 432013 247872898635977 1951187269 n.jpg 425317 232154336874500 1973827325 n.jpg 11950 415272265229372 469731856 n.jpg 600864 415272301896035 1175550536 n.jpg 483623 415272291896036 696593933 n.jpg 563250 415272345229364 1600303352 n.jpg 481586 415272335229365 1736184714 n.jpg 390376 195926007164000 563199393 n.jpg 432096 247869391969661 10992691 n.jpg 425972 247869298636337 366487116 n.jpg 734823 415272248562707 634158204 n.jpg 419159 247869371969663 1581048456 n.jpg dgvdv.jpg Videos File:The Last of Us - Its Them or Us Trailer|It's Them or Us Trailer The Last of Us - 'Extended Demo Gameplay @ E3 2012' TRUE-HD QUALITY|Extended E3 Gameplay Demo File:The Last of Us Neil Druckmann Interview|Neil Druckmann Interview File:PlayStation Conversation The Last of Us Hands-on|Hands-on Preview Video:The Last of Us VGA 2011 Trailer|VGA 2011 Reveal Trailer Video:The Last of Us - The Truck Ambush Trailer|Truck Ambush Cutscene Preview Video:The Last of Us E3 2012 Gameplay|E3 Gameplay Demo Video:The Last of Us - Bill's Safe House Cinematic|Bill's Safe House Cinematic Video:The Last of Us - Story Trailer|Story Trailer Video:The Last of Us - 'The Infected Gameplay' TRUE-HD QUALITY|The Infected Gameplay References }}